Shopping Portal Authentication Guide

Overview

Authentication is a critical part of powering the shopping experience we provide. It allows Wildfire to accurately track user shopping behavior, attribute purchases, and—depending on the implementation—enable Wildfire to support displaying cash back earnings and facilitating payouts. This guide outlines the authentication options available and how each impacts data flow, user experience, and implementation responsibility.

Authentication enables us to:

• Identify users during their shopping journey.
• Pass identifying info into affiliate links to merchants.
• Receive purchase confirmation from merchants containing that identifying info.
• Display earnings dashboard and facilitate payouts via gift card when applicable.

There are three main authentication options depending on your organization’s needs and technical capabilities.

⚙️ Authentication Methods

1. Turnkey Authentication (Wildfire Managed)

In this configuration, Wildfire handles the entire authentication process using trusted providers (e.g., Google or Apple). No technical work is required from the partner.

• User Auth: Google/Apple login powered by Wildfire
• Earnings Dashboard: Provided by Wildfire
• Payouts: Managed by Wildfire via gift cards
• Ideal for: Partners without a login system or who prefer a hands-off solution

Key Benefits:

• Fastest time to market
• Minimal integration overhead
• Fully managed user experience

Note:

• Partners will be unable to tie user purchases to user profiles (i.e., the partner will be unable to use purchase data for marketing/CRM purposes or otherwise).

2. Tracking ID Pass-Through (Partner-Managed Lightweight Auth)

This method allows a partner to pass an anonymous user ID (such as a UUID or internal analytics reference) into the shopping portal via URL parameters. Wildfire captures and persists this ID through the user’s shopping journey, enabling attribution of purchases.

• User Auth: Partner-controlled (via ID passed in URL)
• Earnings Dashboard / Payouts: Owned by Partner
• Ideal for: Partners who facilitate payouts, want a lightweight solution, and ability to tie purchase behavior with user profiles

Example Flow:

1. User starts on partner site
2. Partner appends a unique ID in the URL when directing the user to the shopping portal
3. Wildfire includes this ID in affiliate link parameters
4. Purchase data with this ID is returned to the partner via reporting

Key Benefits:

• Simple integration
• Partner can tie user purchases to user profiles (i.e., the partner will be able to use purchase data for marketing/CRM purposes or otherwise)

Example URL
1shoppingportal.site.com?uuid=UUIDHERE

3. OAuth Integration (Partner-Managed Secure Auth)

Wildfire supports integrating with your OAuth 2.0-based authentication system for a secure, seamless user experience. This allows for deeper user-level attribution and flexible options for managing earnings.

• User Auth: Partner OAuth
• Earnings Dashboard / Payouts: Can be Wildfire or Partner-owned
• Ideal for: Partners with an existing secure login system and interest in richer data access or payout flexibility

Options:

• Partner-managed dashboard and payouts
• Wildfire-managed dashboard and payouts (only available via OAuth or Turnkey solution)

Implementation Notes:

• Each OAuth implementation is customized to the partner's infrastructure
• Requires technical alignment and partner-provided documentation

Please coordinate with your Wildfire Customer Success representative to begin technical planning.

Key Benefits:

• Secure user authentication
• Allows flexible ownership of payout and user engagement components
• Partner can tie user purchases to user profiles (i.e., the partner will be able to use purchase data for marketing/CRM purposes or otherwise)

📊 Summary Comparison

Authentication for App-Only Partners

For partners that operate exclusively within a mobile app and do not support web-based logins, authentication should be handled within the app before opening the shopping portal.

Authenticating Users via App

1. Launch the Portal with a User ID
   Since the user is already authenticated in the partner’s app, open the portal URL with the user’s unique identifier (UUID) appended as a query parameter:

   1shoppingportal.site.com?uuid=UUIDHERE

User Tracking

• The portal will store the UUID and use it as a tracking code for all affiliate link activations.
• This ensures that purchases made through the portal are correctly attributed to the authenticated user.

Handling Web Links When Only App-Based Logins Are Supported

If the app-based partner also has a website that links to the shopping portal but does not support web-based logins, follow this process:

1. Redirect to the App for Authentication

• When a user attempts to log in, redirect them to the app using an app-deep link (e.g., app://) instead of a web-based login flow (https://).

2. Return to the Browser with User ID

• Once the user is authenticated in the app, redirect them back to the browser with the UUID appended to the URL:

1shoppingportal.site.com?uuid=UUIDHERE

User Tracking

📩 Getting Started

To begin setting up authentication, contact your Wildfire onboarding representative. They will help you choose the most appropriate integration option and provide technical resources and guidance for implementation.